RWBY: Malediction
by R.W.B.Y.Pioneer17
Summary: "They say that those with nothing to lose are the most frightening of them all. I'll have to call bullshit on that one. It's because, those with nothing to lose, smile and laugh at the face of death and accept defeat and failure with open arms. But those who have everything on the line? They'll fight, they'll cheat, they'll lie. And if they go down, they'll bring you down too."


**Opening Notes: [October 3, 2019]**

**Greetings people of the world. First and foremost, I have two things to say to the new and old readers of this story of mine.**

**To the old readers, those of you who have Favorited and Followed Unforgiven already, I am sorry for the inconvenience but I'm going to be revamping this story. No, I am not going to delete it, I'm just going to rewrite the already written chapters. And yes, all of the chapters including the Prologue 'need' to be changed in order for the flow to align with the revamped, and honestly better, plotline. And if you're wondering as to what brought about this decision, it was mainly due to the aid of my fellow writers in the Fan-fiction Council, a funny name I know but that's what I like to call them. I had sought out their council when I had been troubled with the infamous "Author's block" and I showed to them the entire plot for Unforgiven. And the jury was while they didn't think it was horrible, it needed a few fix-ups. And one of those fix ups was the original subplot involving Ruby Qrow and Ozpin. Needless to say, they did not like that. Oh, they were being professional about it but they still made sure to prove how unnecessarily brazen it would've been. So, I decided to scrap that sub-plot in favor of a new one. And when I sought out their council once more on the newly made one, they all agreed that it was better than the last. And so, here it is now. A more-or-less changed variation of RWBY: Unforgiven.**

**Now, for the new readers. Don't worry if you can't make heads or tails on the message above, it's nothing really major. Just a little heads up as all. Moving on, I thank you all for taking the chance and clicking on this story of mine. I pray that this will appease your tastes and that you will find either comfort or enjoyment from reading this. And if not, well, I'm sorry to disappoint and I wish you luck in your journey to find a piece of work that you'll enjoy. Well, that was all I had to say for now. Carry on to the story my lovely readers.**

**BETA READERS: Blazeraptor54** **and AxleBoost**

**Fanart by: artasfuhck on Tumblr.**

**Enjoy~!**

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**Location: Beacon Academy**

**Date: Judgement Day**

**Time: 9:45 P.M.**

Beacon Academy. An architectural marvel that once stood proud and strong as the best Huntsman Academy in all of Remnant. An academy that trained and produced many powerful Huntsmen and Huntresses. A place that both Grimm and the Criminal Empire dared not to invade.

And it was all falling apart.

The landing pads, the lush landscape, the CCT, the dorms, the cafeteria, the library, the training gyms, recreational areas, and the living quarters of the Beacon staff. Each and everyone one of them was burning, wrecked, and simply eviscerated of its former glory. The extensive body count only served to make it all the worse. Some of the fallen lay still on the ground, some were draped over the branches of trees, and others were quite literally embedded to their surroundings, as if nailed there by some powerful force.

This nightmare was made real through the selfish desires of one man; a man who had long since abandoned the very concept of humanity. A man who lied and cheated at every turn. A man who, until this very day, never ceased in his conquest. No matter how high the price, no matter how many lives he had to snuff out, and no matter how much of a monster he had become, he took all of it and more in stride.

Eddard Arteloete, the man of many monikers. Now feared by the likes of both good and evil.

He watched the fall of Beacon, and quite possibly the Kingdom of Vale as a whole, up above in what was once the Headmaster's office tower. Its walls, along with its roof, were all gone. The only proof of their prior existence was the scraps of metal at the tower's edges, bent outward and away from Eddard. The once imposing clock tower that stood as the Headmaster's office, and the face of Beacon, now resembled a metal container jaggedly peeled open at its center.

And as the nightly wind blew by, carrying with it the stench of the burning Academy, the dark-clad man let out a deep sigh through his metal helmet. A passing gust of wind was strong enough to blow back the hood he wore and tug on the thick metal spaulders keeping his cape in place. His helmet's dark diagonal visor, located where his eyes should have been, gleamed in the dim moonlight.

A dark armored vest covering the entirety of Eddard's torso and seemingly made out of some type of smooth metal, evidence of this being the sheen of light reflected by both the light emanating off the broken moon high above the nightly sky and the raging torrents of fire enveloping nearly all of the Academy. Underneath that, he wore what seemed to be a long-sleeved form-fitting turtleneck shirt made out of many minuscule dark metal scales. Strapped and mostly enveloping each of his forearms, moderately thick dark metal vambraces with the top half shaped in an elongated hexagonal manner. And on his hip, a dark utility belt with numerous gadgets strapped unto it. Strapped on the left side, two ruler length dark metal hilts with a sliding switch at the center of its top half and a three-inch-wide hole at its very top. Strapped to the right of the belt, a dark metal hand-gun with the length of an average man's forearm and had a long bright blue vial running along the top of the gun. And strapped at the back of the belt were two dark metal semi-auto bolt pistols. As for the bottom half of his attire, he wore dark cargo pants that had metal plates at the front half of the thighs and the shins. And covering his hands, were dark metal gauntlets that seemingly fused with the vambraces.

"Finally.." Eddard said to himself, his voice sounding muffled and electronic beneath his helmet. His gaze followed the bright green light ascending into the sky. It was still a ways away. About twenty miles, to be exact. But judging from its speed, it was only a matter of time before it would reach him. "..the King makes his return."

As the words left his mouth, his scroll pinged, signifying that he had received a message. Without tearing his gaze from the green light now soaring through the night sky, Eddard opened the metal pouch on his utility belt and brought out his scroll. Cursing under his breath, he reluctantly turned away from the green light and focused his attention on reading the four messages on his scroll.

**CrimsonBladesMan: My forces and I are preoccupied. I won't be able to join you anytime soon.**

**NotoriousEmperor: Bad news kid. Can't come. We've got our hands full here. So your own your own.**

**FanaticalCardinal:"Forgive me, my Lord, but we will be unable to aid you in your battle. We underestimated the sheer audacity of these heretics. But worry not. It will take us time, but we will purge all these unholy scum in your name, my Lord. I swear that to you. Ave Mortem!**

**Mishalee: I've found the vault. I'll be back as soon as I can to rejoin you. Don't die, Eddard.**

"Hmph, don't worry." With a small nod to himself, Eddard slid his scroll back into its metal container where it'd be safe. Or at least, he hoped so. "I've got no plans of dying yet. Not until I'm done with all of this." The dark-garbed man looked back up into the sky.

The moment he did, Eddard saw bright green light descending from the heavens like a shooting star. Judging by its trajectory, it was aiming for a collision course with Eddard, and fast.

"Well, whadda ya know? He finally grew a pair." Eddard humored as he roared his dark blue Aura to life, and letting it spread and solidify into a gigantic blue rib cage around him. "But you're way too late now, old man." The bright green light shined ever brighter and accelerated its descent.

Bracing himself for impact, Eddard bent his knees, leaned his upper torso forward, and, utilizing his hands as a guide, willed his Aura to construct and connect gigantic skeletal arms to the rib cage. Once the arms were securely connected, Eddard willed their skeletal fingers to dig deep into the tower's edge and clamp down, effectively anchoring not only the gigantic skeletal system, but also himself.

The bright green light hurtling towards him was but a mere few hundred yards away now, and it was closing in faster than before. As it grew closer, the green light shimmered even brighter.

That's when Eddard finally heard it.

It sounded like a yell. No, it was more akin to a scream. A scream coming from within the light. An amalgamation of rage, despair, and desperation. A scream that could only be elicited by one who had lost everything they've sacrificed so much for. And he could recognize that voice anywhere.

"MORTEM!" it screamed.

With a rageful roar, Ozma 'crashed' his fist dead center into the Auric ribcage Eddard had made. The force of the impact caused a sonic boom to resonate all throughout the previously-dead silent Academy. In fact, it was powerful enough to push him and his conjured construction all the way to the other edge of the tower. Eddard knew that if it weren't for conjuring his last-minute defense, he would've been sent flying from that punch alone.

_Hm, looks like Salem was right. He really is more powerful than he seems._ Eddard thought to himself as he watched a brightly glowing Ozma lowering himself to the ground, his green Aura emitting powerful gusts of wind.

_No matter,_ he thought. _If I do this right, I might just be able to pull this off. And live at the end of it. Hopefully._ As he finished his line of thought, Eddard willed his Aura to dissolve the frontal portion of his conjured construction to give himself a clearer view of his green-garbed opponent.

Depending on how well his plan went, this could very well be his last opponent ever.

_Focus. Remember why you're here. What you're doing this for. Who you're doing all this for. Just stick to the plan, and it'll work out._ After his mental pep-talk, Eddard let out a sigh through his helmet before dislodging the gigantic skeletal fingers made of Aura from the ground.

Eddard took in a deep breath before slowly walking towards Ozma, his construct moving in tandem with him all the while. His opponent didn't budge an inch. Ozma, an ancient in every sense of the word, bore a scowl that spoke volumes. If looks could harm, Eddard would probably be wounded all over right now. Tthe ancient radiated his Aura non-stop, causing a relentless torrent of wind and waves of heat to beat against Eddard. Nevertheless, the dark-garbed man continued continued his slow advance. Once he was at the center of the tower, Eddard stopped and stood his ground, simultaneously willing his construct's bony arms to take up a defensive posture.

_Here we go._

"Ah, Ozma."_ Whatever took you so long?_ Eddard started offhandedly with a gesture towards the Headmaster. When the Ancient made no move to reply, he lowered his hand and shrugged. "Nevermind, then. Anyone would be busy with the shit storm that's going on, all things considered." And he would know that better than anyone after all. Not only is he what many would call a veteran in facing shit storms, but he's also a master at making them as well. Especially since he's the one solely responsible for the many that have happened and for the one that is happening right now.

"Though, I must say. I didn't-"

"Are you satisfied now?" Ozma cut Eddard off with a growl. Not too surprising. He was hoping for that sort of reaction, after all. "All of this-" The former Headmaster of the decimated Beacon Academy gestured with open arms to the surrounding area. His voice gradually deepened into a hateful snarl as his face contorted into a whirlwind of emotions. "-all this meaningless destruction, all this pointless death, all of this! Has all of this finally given you the satisfaction you've so brazenly sought?! Has the end of the world and the fall of all Humanity finally sated your fallacy of a moral code?! Has it?!" With that final bellow, Ozma's green Aura burned even brighter, taking the shape of a gigantic powerful bonfire. This, in turn, also emitted even more powerful torrents of wind and waves of heat. So much so that the light now brightened up nearly the entire academy as the remaining chunks of debris left from the destroyed tower were all blown away. The metal ground near Ozma was starting to take oin a reddish-orange hue.

_Psychological imbalance? Check. Emotional fracture? Check. Focus? Definitely shot._ Eddard deduced. It wasn't that hard to see, the look on Ozma's face, was already proof enough. It was the face of a man who had quite literally hit the "fuck it" button. The heavy tears falling from the white-haired Headmaster's brown eyes and the show of his teeth grinding together only further solidified that notion. _Hm, if I capitalize on those and gouge them further I might just be able to throw him off his game even more. And I might just be able to win this by myself. Maybe._ It was a long shot. Eddard knew that much. But it was a shot he could afford to take. This was, after all, the whole entire reason why he had to go through hell and back and back again. To gain power. Power to finally be rid of the ancient evils that have been plaguing the world for far-far too long. Power to free his family from the cycle spun time and time again by the two. And he would damn his soul for all of eternity before he would chicken out from this chance.

"No. Not yet, Ozma." Raising a dark-metal gauntlet clad finger and pointing it to the literal blazing green fire that Ozpin had become, Eddard mustered up once more the regal persona he retained as his guise to fool not only himself but the rest of the world as well. "Never until I step over your cold, dead, corpse." Lowering his raised hand, Eddard increased his Aura flow and directed it all to his blue Auric construct.

And in an instant, the dissolved frontal portion of the gigantic rib cage protecting him reformed as it levitated higher up from the ground. This time, he willed a gigantic Aura spine to take form and connected it with the ribcage and simultaneously shaping a just as gigantic skull at the top end of the spine.

The end result was unmistakable. Eddard Arteloete, through the power of his Aura, formed what could only be described as a giant levitating half skeletal system. And it seems he wasn't done there just yet. With a thought, Eddard focused more of his near unfathomable Aura into forming artificial muscle strands and mending them into the semi-floating half skeleton. The process took only about a full ten seconds before the entire construct fully took on the form of a fiery blue skinless bisected giant. It appeared to be of a male design as well, what with its male facial construction and muscular physique.

_All right, this should be enough for now. Don't wanna waste too much this early on._ With that thought laid bare, Eddard willed his gigantic muscular construct to open and raise its, quite literally, meaty hands. Immediately right after, powerful currents of lightning started to spark and crackle to life on one of the construct's hands and take in the shape of a ball while the blazing yellow-gradually turning-blue fire roared to life on the construct's other hand with this too taking in a spherical shape. _Okay, fuck-wow. This does not get any easier. Shit._ Fighting through the pain of having both his body and soul strained from the effort of having to maintain his construct and the elemental powers he had created, Eddard unholstered and grabbed one of the dark metal ruler length hilts using his right hand and with his left, he did the same with the forearm length gun.

Once he had his two dark-colored weapons at the ready, he clicked the button his fairly large handgun had at the side of its base using his left thumb. And quickly right after, the long blue vile fused at the handgun's top glowed bright and so did the rest of the gun as it emitted a soft hum. And with his other weapon, he flicked his right wrist to the side and within the same motion, Eddard slid down the switch on the hilt. And with a resounding hum, an arm's length beam of bright red energy shot out from the hilt's hole and acting as its blade. An energy blade, a lightsaber, for lack of a better term.

"Tell me, Ozma!" Eddard called out, his encrypted voice barely audible above the combined sounds of both their powerful Auras literally crashing against one another in the same way the raging waves of the sea would crash onto an unyielding boulder of the earth. "Salem said that you once fashioned yourself as a god-king..." With a flourish, he spun and twirled the lightsaber around for a bit before raising his now blue glowing gun to his head level. "...so tell me, can a god bleed?"

In response, Ozma levitated off the now melting molten metal ground, eyes glowing bright green as his Aura morphed from a gigantic bonfire to a practical miniature sun. At the same time, he produced from his hands, amalgamations of different orbs of different colors with each one orbiting around his hands as a large green circular glyph made up of archaic symbols manifested behind him.

And Eddard, despite the chilling fear coursing through every cell in his scarred body, did not falter one bit. He did not waver under the intense pressure coming from the sheer power the ancient known as Ozma Antiquorum was giving off and the pressure of making sure against all odds that he would succeed in his plan. Because if he screwed up here, then everything that he had done, all the people he had buried six feet under, all the lies he had to put up with, all the sacrifices he had to make, it would all be for nothing.

And he couldn't afford to do that. To fail here, would be the same as spitting at the faces of all the dead he had racked up. To fail, would mean the certain doom of his family. And he would do battle with the brother gods themselves before he would let that happen.

"Let's find out, shall we!?" Eddard roared up to the levitating Ozma.

For but a fraction of a second, the two combatants locked gazes. Their clashing Aura's brightening up and shaking the entire Academy. Everything and everyone for miles around saw and felt these two powerful forces. From the raging winds blowing and bending of the forest trees to the violent tremors shaking the very earth itself. And a nano-second later, the one who history jotted down as the man who rivaled the gods, and the man who history will remember as the epitome of evil...

Clashed.

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**Closing Notes: Well-well. That sure was something. Now don't worry if you're thinking along the lines of "what the hell did I just read!?" or "What the hell just happened!?" It'll all make sense...in due time. So for now, I ask that you be patient and follow along with the story. It's going to be a long and slow journey and if you're interested then please, by all means. If not, then may the winds of the world of Fanfiction take you wherever you wish to go, my lovely readers.**

**This has been R.W.B.Y Pioneer 17, wishing you all a good morning/afternoon/evening from the Philippines.**


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